MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump, somber and bandaged, accepted the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday at the Republican National Convention in a speech describing in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier.
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” Trump told the packed convention hall as thousands of people listened in silence. “There was blood pouring everywhere, yet, in a certain way I felt very safe because I had God on my side.”
The 78-year-old former president, known best for his bombast and aggressive rhetoric, began his acceptance speech with a softer and deeply personal message that drew directly from his brush with death. Later, he returned to a tone closer to his typical campaign message, outlining his priorities on immigration and the economy but also referencing false theories of election fraud and the indictments against him.
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“The discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,” Trump said, wearing a large white bandage on his right ear, as he has all week, to cover a wound he sustained in the Saturday shooting. “I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”
Later in the speech, he falsely suggested Democrats had cheated during the 2020 election he lost — despite a raft of federal and state investigations proving there was no systemic fraud — and suggested “we must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement,” even as he has long called for prosecutions of his opponents.
Trump’s address marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican pep rally that drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials to swing-state Wisconsin as voters weigh an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates. Sensing political opportunity in the wake of his near-death experience, the often bombastic Republican leader embraced a new tone he hopes will help generate even more momentum in an election that appears to be shifting in his favor.
But with less than four months to go in the contest, major changes in the race are possible, if not likely.
Trump’s appearance comes as 81-year-old Democrat Biden clings to his party’s nomination in the face of unrelenting pressure from key congressional allies, donors and even former President Barack Obama, who fear he may be unable to win reelection after his disastrous debate.
Long pressed by allies to campaign more vigorously, Biden is instead in isolation at his beach home in Delaware after having been diagnosed with COVID-19.
With the stage to himself, Trump praised the many supporters who witnessed his assassination attempt and asked for a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, the retired fire chief slain at the rally. Comperatore’s firefighter’s jacket and helmet were placed on stage as Trump spoke.
Trump walked over to the uniform and kissed Comperatore’s helmet during the moment of silence.
While Trump offered a gentler tone than usual on Thursday night, the crowded speaking program of the convention’s final day was also designed to project strength in an implicit rebuke of Biden. It was decidedly more masculine than it has been for much of the week.
Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White called Trump “a real American bad ass.” Kid Rock performed a song with the chorus, “Fight, fight!” And wrestling icon Hulk Hogan described the former president as “an American hero.”
Hogan drew a raucous response when, standing on the main stage, he ripped off his shirt to reveal a red Trump-Vance “Make America Great Again” shirt.
“As an entertainer I try to stay out of politics,” Hogan said as he briefly broke character. “I can no longer stay silent.”
Like many speakers during the convention, Carlson also suggested that recent events were divinely inspired and that he wondered “if something bigger is going on.”
“I think it changed him,” Carlson said of the shooting, praising Trump for not lashing out in anger afterward.
“He did his best to bring the country together,” Carlson added. “This is the most responsible, unifying behavior from a leader I’ve ever seen.”
Former first lady Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, the president’s elder daughter and former senior adviser, joined Trump in the convention hall ahead of his speech, making their first appearances there. But neither woman spoke.
While Republicans were set to emerge from their convention more united than in recent memory, Democrats are bitterly divided about whether Biden should continue to lead the ticket. Biden, following his disastrous debate performance against Trump last month, has resisted increasing pressure to drop out, with Democrats’ own party convention scheduled for next month in Chicago.
Hours before the balloons were scheduled to rain down on Trump and his family inside the convention hall, Biden deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks appeared nearby in Milwaukee and insisted over and over that Biden would not step aside.
“I do not want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times I can answer that,” Fulks told reporters. “There are no plans being made to replace Biden on the ballot.”
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats nationally say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC poll released Wednesday.
The convention has showcased a Republican Party reshaped by Trump since he shocked the GOP establishment and won over the party’s grassroots on his way to the party’s 2016 nomination. Rivals Trump has vanquished — including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — put aside their past criticisms and gave him their unqualified support.
Even his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s choice to carry his movement into the next generation, was once a fierce critic who suggested in a private message since made public that Trump could be “America’s Hitler.”
Security was a major focus in Milwaukee in the wake of Trump’s near-assassination. But after nearly four full days, there were no serious incidents inside the convention hall or the large security perimeter that surrounded it.
The Secret Service, backed by hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the nation, had a large and visible presence. And during Trump’s appearances each night, he was surrounded by a wall of protective agents wherever he went.
Meanwhile, Trump and his campaign have not released information about his injury or the treatment he received.
“The assassin’s bullet came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life,” Trump said. “Despite such a heinous attack, we unite this evening more determined than ever.”
Associated Press reporters Michelle L. Price in Milwaukee and Emily Swanson in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
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